In Remembrance of the KING of Bengali Cinema - The Satyajit Ray

কেমন বাঁশি বাজায় শোনো মাঠেতে রাখাল॥
তার সুরে বুঝি যাদু আছে, মন হল মাতাল॥     

(Pay attention to the flute, the shepherd plays afar, 
His melody has some magic, it's intoxicating)

Quite a PRELUDE – ever since the thought of writing this piece crossed my mind, this tune kept lingering......uninterrupted !! That is Satyajit Ray, for me - an emotion, a nostalgia, a master storyteller who had this caliber to enthrall you. 

It was during our summer vacations during school - a time when watching TV was strictly monitored (parents being parents :P); during those two hours of real CHHUTI daily (10:00 am -12:00 pm most probably), that I was first introduced to his creations. Then the list kept increasing, as I grew up. This Man weaved masterpieces, that are never too old to be watched (for countless numbers of time), and with that same amount of excitement as watching for the first time. For me his films are timeless saga ----that hold equal amount of relevance even till date, be it in terms of  upholding the innocence of childhood or portraying complex philosophy of life. 

He has been a torch-bearer who carried Bengali cinema to the doorstep of the World and has allowed Bengali culture and its people to stand there with their heads held high. Whenever, you think about his filmography three words just fit aptly – One) Classics Two) Timeless & Three) Iconic and can be summed up in a single word - Epic

a. Starting with the classics of Apu Trilogy - a coming of age narrative of a Bengali boy APU (Apurbo Kumar Roy) from childhood, adolescence till adulthood

b. to the timeless Goopi Gyne-Bagha Byne - a fantasy-musical series especially crafted for children (of all ages :) )

c. till the iconic Sonar Kella & Joy Baba Felunath - a fictional detective story series with three iconic protagonists (Pradosh Chandra Mitter aka Feluda, Tapesh Ranjan Mitter aka Topshe & Lal Mohan Ganguly aka Jatayu)

***P.S. - Only these two because at times some characters get immortalized by the craftsmanship of the creator. Soumitra Chattopadhyay (as Feluda), Siddhartha Chattopadhyay (as Topshe) & Late Santosh Dutta (as Jatayu) can never be replaced by any.

and many more (Agantuk, Parash Pathar, Nayak, Aranyer Din-Ratri - to name a few), Satyajit Ray has never failed to mesmerize us. 

With multifaceted talent in true sense of the term - an Illustrator, Calligrapher, Filmmaker, Lyricist & Music Composer, Author, an Awardee - of Honorary Academy Award (The Oscar) & The Bharat Ratna - here's the Man,  'Ladies & Gentlemen' , SATYAJIT RAY 

MOHARAJA TOMARE SELAAM ..... (We Salute you)

That Fateful Day for the World of Cinema

“.... the wound is the place where the Light enters you.” ― Rumi

Never did I imagine that something like this will leave me shaken to the core; that I will finally gather all my scattered thoughts and RETURN - to where I actually belonged.

I had never taken to any medium to post something of this sort earlier. But today (April 29, 2020) was something different.......

Cut one: 

It was just last night that my heart skipped a beat seeing a post on Facebook, which said "Read out, what has happened to Him",  soon to realize that it was nothing about the Man per se. However, I did abuse the owner of that post for posting such a quirky photo of the man, that literally took my breath away.

Cut two: 

Soon after finishing a few important emails, as usual, I turned on the TV and was scrolling through my phone, only to realize that there is a downpour of posts and news bites all over. Taken completely by shock, I changed to a news channel (something I hadn't done in last one month just to stay away from all the moron updates on COVID-19). and the headline hit me like a 'bolt out of the blue' -- "Irrfan Khan passes away at 53". Struggled for a while in complete disbelief, ran through the posts, tweets etc. etc. etc. repeatedly, to sink in the fact that "Champak" won't come on screen with a new marvel ever again; that look in his eyes, that mysterious smile.........will just be a thing to treasure for a lifetime. 

Little had I known last night, that the skipped beat was actually a hint to convey something inevitable....   

"Us din apne berehmi pe, sabse zyada 
Waqt roya tha
Khwabon ke asmaan ne,
Apna ek sitara jo khoya tha"

Cut three : (A Soliloquy .... that's still going on as I write this piece) 

the conscious mind: "do/did you know him?"

the subconscious mind: No, I didn't.             (after a short pause) Hey wait.....umm,  maybe Yes, I know him ..... 

Otherwise,

why would - the passing away of an unknown would hurt so much ? And no, I am not sounding insane because every other person out there is shouting the same -- yes, I knew him, you knew him, we knew him - that regular travel agent 'Rana', that quintessential father 'Champak', or that lonely old man 'Sajaan Fernandes' and so many of them --- we regularly meet, pass by, exchange a smile with, fight with. Don't we???

Actually, when an art does touch some chord in your heart, the Artist is no longer any special character....he comes down to sit next to you, tells you a story, becomes part of your Ordinary Everyday...and then they are not any ordinary but Gems. Seeing his stellars was  much of an  intoxication, a flavor underplayed yet everlasting. Demise of such an Artist Extraordinaire, does create a VOID - which is immeasurable, never to be filled again. 

Your art was like a flowing river (easygoing and endless). You left behind a treasure & an  eternal but unquenchable longing for more .....

|| Ik bar to yun hoga, 

    thoda sa sukoon hoga

    Na dil mein kasak hogi,  

    na sar pe junoon hoga ||  

....... May you attain that eternal peace !!

Absolutely Heartbroken ..!!